800.8830/2449
The Secretary of State to the Venezuelan Ambassador (Escalante)
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the Ambassador of Venezuela and has the honor to refer to the latter’s communication of August 9, 1943,66 and to a subsequent communication from the Chargé d’Affaires, dated September 6, 1943, regarding the hardship suffered by the Venezuelan coffee industry because of the necessity for shipping Venezuelan coffee to the ports of Mobile and New Orleans, rather than directly to New York.
This problem was taken up with the War Shipping Administration on the basis of the first of the two communications referred to above, and a letter was received in reply from that agency in which it was stated that the need for the facilities of the United States North Atlantic ports for vessels in military and naval services, under existing conditions, was such that it was not practicable or advisable to transfer additional civil or commercial vessel service to those ports.
The matter was further discussed with officials of the War Shipping Administration, and the new circumstances referred to in the Embassy’s memorandum of September 6, 1943 brought to the attention of that agency. After careful reconsideration, the War Shipping Administration addressed a further letter to the Department of State, dated September 30, 1943, a copy of which is attached,66 maintaining the position that at this time it is impracticable to add additional commercial vessel service to North Atlantic ports.
In recognition of the interest of the Government of Venezuela in this matter, the Department will continue to give it its active attention, in cooperation with the War Shipping Administration, in the hope that as soon as military and naval requirements may justify such action it will be possible to satisfy fully the request of the Venezuelan Embassy.